Tonight's eBay chuckle

Neither. He may be unethical but he did nothing illegal. The buyer, on the other hand .....

 

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Hopefully the buyer will be satisfied. The seller did spend a lot of time telling a story. The question is whether to believe it or not. Me, I'd be skeptical. I've seen a lot of stories in the description of coins being sold that raise red flags with me; especially so called "finds" in "unsearched" cent rolls.

 

Neither did anything wrong. Maybe the seller stretched the truth but wait until the buyer becomes the seller. He'll wish he had purchased enameled colorized quarters from the Franklin Mint.

 

I don't think there's any way to tell that from those manipulated photos. He blurred the coin details enough to make graffiti, never mind hairlines, disappear.

 

Well, at least the guy gave his U.S.M.C. designation at the end of the listing. I didn't know the Marines were into the coin business. Tee hee.

 

Looking at his newer photos, and trying to see past the Photoshoppery, I think the toning on these coins looks identical to that offered by other AT sellers that say "toning method: heat" in their descriptions.

He's listing more this afternoon, this time in sets of 10 for $150. If you feel like giving a little less money to a coin cooker, it looks like he's been accepting offers of $120.

It also looks like he cooked an accented-hair Kennedy proof set. Now I'm getting on toward "angry".

 

That's vandalism.

 

It's all vandalism, but this is vandalism of something a lot of folks want un-vandalized. (I can't get that worked up about somebody baking circulated Mercury dimes, or even very common proofs. It's dumb, but not a tragedy.)

 

We now live in a country where certain people cannot be questioned or even disagreed with without others calling the motivations of those doing so into question. Unfortunately, one group of such people can be veterans.

Do notice how he was sure to repeatedly emphasize this as well as provide other claims designed to portray himself as the very picture of legitimacy...

"Member of ANACS, ANA, NGC, PCGS Collectors Club, and Veteran owned business.

Licensed and Bonded Dealer and Contractor in the State of California."

This, along with the entire story about his "dad" and how the coins were supposedly stored/found is quite simply intended to promote buyer confidence. Obviously his intended market isn't the experienced collector, but the novice and/or gift buyer.

As sad as it is, the guy regrettably deserves some credit for his marketing approach.

 

I agree. I have the utmost respect for our veterans but what does that have to do with the coin business.

 

I also agree with BooksB4's excellent statement! But, as we all know . . . there are different strokes for different folks. Some exact person in the world actually WANTS and is desperately searching for toned coins stored in wine areas from a Marine vet in California on March 6th at 10:25pm while the sound of F-35 airplanes fly over his house while he's burning a purple lilac candle pointed to the west of a window.. . My point is that the Seller of the toned coin disclosed everything I think was required. And, crazy as it might be, some person in this world is happy to have found the coin. Isn't it the cliché: "Buy the coin, not the dealer?" Aloha Everyone!